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Shampoo in the shampoo-free test

For this hair washing test, we have been doing something more traditional – trying out ecological shampoos and conditioners. But it has also been a kind of two-in-one test; at the same time I have been trying out a washing method called CWC (Condition-wash-condition), which basically means that one should apply conditioner to the hair before applying the shampoo, so as to spare the hair from the harsh ingredients found in shampoos.
But most ecological shampoos are very gentle on your hair, not containing any of the ingredients that should be avoided. We tried two pairs of eco shampoos and conditioners: Urtekram’s Aloe vera shampoo and Ole hyvä vanilla-apple-cinnamon shampoo + vanilla-chocolate conditioner. I chose these two because they are produced relatively close and they are also quite cheap compared to many other organic shampoos on the market. These two both use Sodium coco sulfate as their foaming agent, which is said to be gentler on the hair and skin than for sodium laureth sulfate (though they are both coconut derivatives – roughly said coco sulfate is just a much more diluted version of SLS).

HOW TO DO IT

If you want to do a CWC, just apply the conditioner to wet hair onto the lengths (and to scalp if you have very dry scalp) and then apply the shampoo without washing the conditioner away. Then rinse. If you need to apply shampoo twice, you can try rinsing out a little bit and then applying some more shampoo. Rinse. Then apply conditioner all over hair and leave on for a few minutes.

The organic conditioners are quite runny, and you will want to use quite a lot of conditioner in the first application (almost as if doing a CO), so I found it better to use any cheap conditioner for the first conditioning, and then using the organic one for the second application.

RESULTS

I am very much surprised to say, that this is the method that I have liked the least so far. Of course I can only speak for these two pairs of shampoos, but compared to the other methods my hair looked dull and flat. Still, that’s in comparison, if I would have started with this I would probably have had a different point of view (still looks better than when I used normal shampoo, I think).

Cost: Depends on the brand, of course. Minimum about 6€/month.

Difficulty: Very easy, even with the CWC.

Cleanness: Looks okay, but didn’t stay clean for very long.

Manageability: The texture was all right, and my hair was quite easy to manage. Nothing exciting.

Overall: I had never expected to get these results with the most normal method on the list. Considering it is also the priciest alternative so far I must say I am a tad disapointed.